Simplicity
by themisunderstoodsloth
Summary: Teddy had always enjoyed the simple things in life. Perhaps that was why she found Paul perfect. Paul/OC


This was not a house that kept regular hours. That much was evident from the two figures curled up under crumpled sheets at 3pm on a Thursday, fast asleep. There was a man, clearly too big for the bed, with his legs hanging off the end and a woman, held tightly to his chest, her face hidden and her long blond curls spreading over the pillows. Despite it being mid-afternoon, the only odd thing about the couple was the sheer size of the man and the long thin scars running down the back of the woman. Apart from that, they looked content and really just wanted to be left alone.

The first sign of movement came when the sound of the door crashing open echoed through the small house and the surrounding wood. The woman grumbled and wiggled further into the large russet chest of the recently awoken man. Hearing the sound of enormous loud men made both parties sigh in frustration. All they wanted was a day alone, to sleep. Detangling himself from the woman and the sheets, the man hoisted himself up to yell at his friends;

"Paaaaauuuuuuuulllyyyy" he heard from the kitchen as he trudged down the hall "We're bored and hungry and bored" Embry had made himself comfortable at the kitchen table and continued whining "can't Ted make us food? Sam kicked us out cause apparently we're stressing out Em, when really, we all just know he wants some S-E-X-Y time!" Embry wiggled his eyebrows and Quil and Seth snorted with laughter.

Paul entered the room only to hit Embry on the back of the head with a large book and grunt in response, flicking on the kettle.

"You're a moron." Paul shut his eyes and leant against the counter, desperately trying to maintain his temper on an hour and a half of sleep and not kill his friends for interrupting "you guys have about 45 seconds to get out before I kill you all. I just got off a double patrol and Ted had a 14 hour shift at the hospital. OUT!" Paul's eyes were still shut as he tried to stay calm, breathing deep and deliberately loud, trying to scare them out.

Embry wasn't fazed by the fact that Paul wanted to tear him to pieces, it was a fairly regular occurrence anyway. "Paaaaauuuulll c'mon bro, we're hungry and got rejected"

"You know puppy dog eyes really don't work on me Em. We haven't got any food, I'm not making you any and you're not using the tv. Now out." Paul's tone was begging now, wanting nothing more than to go back to bed forever.

"Teddy will make us food! She loooooves us!" now all three of the intruders were wearing their best attempt at puppy dog eyes and practically salivating at the thought of Paul's girlfriend's cooking.

Paul's responding glare was deadly "Embry. I swear to god, if you wake her, I will not hesitate in tearing you limb from limb and selling your body as a heater."

Luckily for Paul, who was pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stay calm, Seth understood his frustration and dragged the others out the door, mumbling something about finding food at Jared and Kim's place.

Finally being surrounded by silence, Paul slumped back onto the counter, burning himself on the kettle and spilling the water across the floor. He was almost too exhausted to move, let alone remember why he had turned it on in the first place, but he cleaned it up, with slow tired sweeps, just because he knew Teddy might slip. When he was practically asleep on the kitchen floor, he heard a giggle from the doorway and turned to see Teddy leaning against the frame in nothing but panties and a singlet and with a perfect eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"You comfy down there babe?" she asked, her sleepy voice light with amusement.

"No" Paul grumbled from the floor, hauling himself up with the use of the counter and wrapping his long arms around Teddy "I'm so sorry they woke you" he breathed into her hair, leaving a trail of kisses along her face "Let's get back to bed. Remind me in the morning to buy a wolf proof deadlock."

"You love them, deep deep inside" their voices had fallen to whispers as they made their way back to their bedroom and fell in a heap into their sheets "night Paul" she let out a huge yawn and snugged back into Paul's chest, mumbling something that sounded a lot like "I'm so glad I have my space heater back" before falling fast asleep.

"Night Bear. I love you"

* * *

The next morning, Paul woke up feeling refreshed and content, after a solid 16 hours of sleep. But the bed was far too empty for his liking and the smell of breakfast too alluring to resist. Paul practically ran into the kitchen, skidding to a halt to admire the woman who was manning the fry pan. Teddy was singing softly as she cooked, swinging her pyjama clad hips, her blond hair was bundled on top of her head and a singlet hanging off her tiny form, giving Paul a clear view of the scars running from the base of her left ear, across her shoulder and down beneath her singlet. Paul let out a low growl in the base of his throat. They always made him angry.

Hearing the disturbance, Teddy spun around and gave Paul a dazzling smile, her grey eyes sparkling;

"Good morning wolf boy! How are you on this fine Friday?" Teddy was smiling mischievously at her boyfriend's still rigid form, he really wasn't a morning person (or an afternoon one, come to think of it). "would you like your eggs _sunny side up_?" She giggled and flipped four eggs onto a mountain of toast and bacon, pushing Paul toward the table and placing the food in front of him.

Paul just stared at Teddy with an amused smile tugging on his lips before beginning to inhale the food in front of him.

" Hey 'Ed, 'oo 'a 'oo 'etan 'oo 'ork?" Paul mumbled through a mouthful of breakfast

Teddy swiftly hurled her spatula at him, hitting him on the side of his head,

"Don't talk with your mouthful or I swear I will buy you a doggy bowl and make you eat outside!"

"But that's not fair, this is my house!"

"Life's not fair"

"Neither is sleeping outside"

"Neither is starvation"

"Theodora!"

"Paul!" Teddy threw her next instrument at him, which happened to be the large kitchen knife from beside the sink "Do not even think about calling me that."

This time the knife lodged itself in Paul's arm and he looked up at her with a bemused glare "you're actually trying to kill me" he sighed, removing her weapon and watching the wound heal.

Teddy just shrugged and went back to stirring her coffee, giggling softly at their stupid arguments. Paul put his plate on the sink and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his head in her neck; "if you weren't so pretty I would definitely challenge you to I fight to the death for that sass" he joked, slightly muffled by her skin.

"But you looooveee me!" Teddy responded, smiling in Paul's arms and slowly sipping her coffee. Paul responded with a content growl, nuzzling her neck.

As much as they both wished they could stay there forever, there was work to be done and bills to be paid. Paul had to get to work down at the mechanic shop he ran with Jared and Sam, and Teddy had another shift interning at the hospital in Forks for credit to finish medical school early and a real world job to work too. She hoped to finish school this year, three years ahead of schedule and was well on track to graduate with honours.

No matter how much of an inconvenience it was, Paul always insisted on driving her to school before he went to work. At first she had objected about him having to go one way and then turn around again, but eventually she fell silent, enjoying any time she could get to stare at Paul in his work shirt and watch as his biceps strained the fabric, she also knew they probably couldn't afford to run another car right now. The goodbye kiss was normally worth it too.


End file.
